I don't understand the fuss about the Government supporting a Yes vote?

They put the Bills before Parliament suggesting the change, so it follows they should support them. If they didn't support them, why place them before Parliament to present to the populace?

Where I do think the opponents have an argument is the obscene expenditure of public funds.

Of course they were required to spend money so the Commission could “educate” the citizens on what the changes were about. It is folly to claim otherwise.

The other sticking point for me is how the results were (not) released by the Parliamentary Commissioner’s office.

According to Mr. Carl Bethel former Attorney General, “The suppression of the Referendum results by this Government is a grotesque abuse of power and violation of the democratic process!

“The Law calls for the Returning Officer in each Constituency to proclaim the results on the spot! And as soon as the preliminary results are determined by the first count when the Polls are closed.”

I realise Mr. Bethel is a political partisan, but what he suggests was always the practice when I worked election polls and campaigns.

A layman’s read of Clause 65 or The Bahamas Parliamentary Elections Act, 1992 seems to confirm he is correct as well. More here…

In this regard it seems this government is slipping further and further away from the stated democratic roots of their party’s Founding Fathers.

It’s ironic really. Supporting the Yes vote then suppressing information.